title: Surgical resection versus liver transplant for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatocellular carcinoma is a major worldwide health problem, involving more than half a million new patients yearly, with a different incidence in different parts of the world. Hepatocellular carcinoma develops in about 80% of cirrhotic patients, and cirrhosis is considered the strongest predisposing factor for it. Surgical resection and liver transplantation are conventional treatment modalities that can offer long-term survival for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the benefits and harms of surgical resection compared with those of liver transplantation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group Controlled Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) at ISI Web of Science (last search February 2013). We also searched the abstracts from annual meetings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), and the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), provided through The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group until February 2013.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomised clinical trials comparing surgical resection and hepatic transplantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  The search strategies were run and two authors individually evaluated whether the retrieved studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No randomised clinical trials comparing surgical resection and liver transplantation as the major methods of treating hepatocellular carcinoma were found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are no randomised clinical trials comparing surgical resection and liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Medstar Washington Hospital Center,Washington, DC, USA. amirtaefi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taefi
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abrishami
authors.forename: Siavosh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nasseri-Moghaddam
authors.forename: Bijan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eghtesad
authors.forename: Morris
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sherman
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation